Piet de Jong

Petrus Jozef Sietse "Piet" de Jong (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈpeːtrʏ ˈɕoːzəf ˈsitsə ˈpi(d) də ˈjɔŋ]; 3 April 1915 – 27 July 2016) was a Dutch politician and naval officer who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1967 to 1971. He was a member of the Catholic People's Party (KVP), later merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). De Jong applied at the Royal Naval College in Den Helder and graduated as an ensign in the Navy and joined the Submarine Service. During World War II he served on the submarine HNLMS O 24 as First Officer and later as commanding officer and saw action in both the Battle of the Atlantic and the Pacific War. After the War De Jong served as a staff officer and commanded a frigate and destroyer. After the 1959 general election, De Jong was unexpectedly appointed as State Secretary for Defence tasked with Naval Affairs taking office on 25 June 1959. After the 1963 general election, De Jong was appointed as Minister of Defence in the Marijnen cabinet taking office on 24 July 1963. The Marijnen cabinet fell 19 months into its term and was replaced by the Cals cabinet with De Jong continuing his office. The Cals cabinet fell just one year later and was replaced by the caretaker Zijlstra cabinet and De Jong again retained his position. After the 1967 general election, De Jong was elected to the House of Representatives on 23 February 1967. Following several failed coalition attempts De Jong was asked to lead a new cabinet and following a successful cabinet formation formed the De Jong cabinet and became Prime Minister of the Netherlands taking office on 5 April 1967. For the 1971 general election the Catholics declined to nominate De Jong as lead candidate and shortly thereafter De...